“I thought I came out with a lot of energy from the tip,” Gardner said. “I think I was just more excited to play today.”

Junior guard Amber Battle led the way for Texas Tech (6-15, 0-10) with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, followed by freshmen guards Minta Spears and Marina Lizarazu with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Tech’s bench contributed 20 points on the evening.

“I think Ivonne (CookTaylor) continues to give us good minutes,” Whitaker said. “Haley (Schneider) coming in off the bench did a great job. Marina, I thought she was a big key to us getting back in the game. She made great plays, stepped up and made big shots.”

The Lady Raiders took the lead with 8:34 left in the first half before the Jayhawks erupted on a 20-6 run to end the half.

With 16:30 left in the game, Kansas held a 20 point lead, but Tech didn’t quit.

The Lady Raiders put together an 11-0 run over the next 4:15 to cut the KU lead to nine.

“When we made that run, I thought it was because people tried to continue and make the next play,” Whitaker said. “Sometimes it was ugly and it bounced our way, but it was because we had someone there ready to make the next play.”

Texas Tech pulled to within four with five minutes remaining, but couldn’t snatch the lead from the Jayhawks.

Defensively, the Lady Raiders switched between a man and a 2-3 zone.

Schneider played well on the defensive end for Tech, finishing with six blocks.

“I think she was tremendous in the second half,” Whitaker said of the senior. “I’m very proud of her. She did a great job of moving her feet, getting around Gardner and then making plays when the ball was up in the air.”

While Kansas outrebounded the Lady Raiders 45-33, Tech pulled down 15 on the offensive end.

“I like that we were really going after it and pursuing the ball,” Battle said. “They weren’t really boxing us out that well. For us to get around them and get the loose balls really helped us.”

Tech forced 18 turnovers, scoring 21 points off of them.

“Ball pressure and our hands were up,” Battle said. “We had our hands in the passing lanes and that really helped. To get out in transition, we’re a good transition team, helped us get some easy baskets.”

After making 18 field goals in the first half, the Jayhawks made only eight in the second and were outscored by Texas Tech 34-29 in the final 20 minutes of play.

“We made an adjustment on the onballs,” Whitaker said. “We wanted to start out being aggressive and high hedging, and that did not work. So we quickly made an adjustment and thought we did a better job.”

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It is good to see that even when we are out of a game we keep fighting. Forget how the AJ trys to paint a rosy picture, for the most part we have been out of games with 10 minutes to go. The important thing is do we keep playing. I think that is happening. "K" left nothing in the tank for this year. This year is for finding out who can play and who wants to compete. With Battle and Kelsi back for next year, I think we could be on the upswing.

So Whitaker, show us how you can coach this team and show us something about recruiting. That will determine your future. I like your demeanor on the sidelines. It says, work hard, play hard, improve. I will worry about the future.